Barbara Blomberg — Volume 05 eBook

Barbara, still with quickened breathing, then put
the question how she could know this; and Adrian,
with a significant smile, replied that her heart would
tell her, and if it should ever err—­of this
he was certain —­the Emperor Charles.

With these words he took leave of her to go, on behalf
of his master, to the marquise, and Barbara stood
motionless for some time, gazing after him.

In the Golden Cross Quijada asked Adrian what he thought
of the singer, and it was some time ere he answered
deliberately: “If only I knew exactly myself,
your lordship—­I am only a plain man, who
wishes every one the best future. Here I do
so out of regard for his Majesty, Sir Wolf Hartschwert,
and the inexperienced youth of this marvellously beautiful
creature. But if you were to force me by the
rack to form a definite opinion of her, I could not
do it. The most favourable would not be too
good, the reverse scarcely too severe. To reconcile
such contrasts is beyond my power. She is certainly
something unusual, that will fit no mould with which
I am familiar.”

“If you had a son,” asked Don Luis, “would
you receive her gladly as a daughter-in-law?”

A gesture of denial from the valet gave eloquent expression
of his opinion; but Quijada went on in a tone of anxious
inquiry: “Then what will she whom he loves
be to the master whose happiness and peace are as
dear to you as to me?”

Adrian started, and answered firmly: “For
him, it seems to me, she will perhaps be the right
one, for what power could she assert against his?
And, besides, there is something in his Majesty, as
well as in this girl, which distinguishes them from
other mortals. What do I mean by that?
I see and hear it, but I can neither exactly understand
nor name it.”

“That might be difficult even for a more adroit
speaker,” replied Quijada; “but I think
I know to what you allude. You and I, Master
Adrian, have hearts in our breasts, like thousands
of other people, and in our heads what is termed common
sense. In his Majesty something else is added.
It seems as though he has at command a messenger from
heaven who brings him thought and decisions.”

“That’s it!” exclaimed Adrian eagerly;
“and whenever she raises her voice to sing,
a second one stands by the side of this Barbara Blomberg.”

“Only we do not yet know,” observed Quijada
anxiously, “whether this second one with the
singer is a messenger from heaven, like his Majesty’s,
or an emissary of hell.”

The valet shrugged his shoulders irresolutely, and
said quietly: “How could I venture to express
an opinion about so noble an art? But when I
was listening to the hymn to the Virgin yesterday,
it seemed as if an angel from heaven was singing from
her lips.”

“Let us hope that you may be right,” replied
the other. “But no matter! I think
I know whence comes the invisible ally his Majesty
has at his disposal. It is the Holy Ghost that
sends him—­there is no doubt of it!
His control is visible everywhere. With miraculous
power he urges him on in advance of all others, and
even of himself. This becomes most distinctly
perceptible in war.”